Gibbon MacKewley of Ballanard ..... was in the Keys in AD 1502

[Aceh]

My late mother's Kewley ancestry was "Of Ballanard" and the above statement appears in "Manx Names" by A W Moore, page 154. My Kewley tree is only about 2 generations short of Gibbon Mac Kewley and I would rather like to know more about him if anyone knows.

Thanks,

Aceh

[Frances_mnb]

Ballanard/Ballanird is in the treen of Tromode (Tremot in early records) in the parish of Onchan
in 1511 Mark McKewley was paying the Lords rent of 16s 4d (noted with surety of Michael McKewley) which suggests he was underage or young
- this is the earliest record though there may be some of the late 1490s but I'm not sure these include Onchan
see www.manxnotebook.com for explanation of property records etc
by 1600 John Kewley with mother was paying the same rent
in 1578 a John McKewley with mother was paying rent - I attach a photo of entry
you can trace the holder of this farm via Lib assed (possibly filmed under manorial records by Mormons)

[Aceh]

Good evening Frances,

I am a member of the IOMFHS and have been researching my Manx heritage on and off (more off than on it must be said) for several decades. I was originally going to pose this question to Nigel Crowe, the font of all knowledge on this subject, but alas he passed away last year. I have copies of Liber Assed back to 1626 and Liber Vast to 1630, but understanding the content hiding in the scribble is beyond me other than the numerals where the dots show me where the rent is.

To date my research has taken me back to John Kewley Jnr of Ballanard, so you see I'm in striking distance of Gibbon Mac Kewley but can't quite get there. What I have is the following, in reverse order:

Gibbon Mac Kewley of Ballanard in the house of Keys in 1502

John Kewley, "the first recorded Manorial Tenant of Ballanard" in 1507

Mark Mac Kewley and Michael Mac Kewley of Ballanard in 1511

The next definite point is the burial at Old Kirk Braddan of John Kewley Snr on 15 January 1627, leaving his son John Jnr and his mother Ellin nee Corkill - however it is uncertain whether John Jnr was now the land holder and liable to pay the rent to the Lord of Man. Liber Vast records the event thus: "A Jo Kewley, son of Tho's, bur Braddan 15/1". inferring, I think, that John Jnr was the heir to Ballanard. To have inherited land holdings John Kewley Jnr must have been at least 21 years of age ie, born in or before 1606, also to have married and sired a son John Snr must have been born around 1590 or earlier and Thomas, as the father of John Snr would have been born around 1570 or earlier.
However, this doesn't seem to agree with  what you have.
Just to add to the picture, back in 1626 Liber Assed stated that John Kewley Snr also held Glencruchery and Ballamanaugh Quarterlands as well, so John Jnr would heve inherited quite a lot of land.
And there again i may be misinterpreting the meaning of what is being recorded. I am just trying to bridge the gap between Thomas and the Mark & Michael Mac Kewley in 1511 and Gibbon in 1502.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

[Frances_mnb]

there are many lib asseds between 1511 and a century later -
 I selected the most readable one to post but there are probably enough surviving annual lib asseds to get a complete succession of holders of Ballanard -
Mark was certainly installed along with his mother  - Michael was probably an uncle as shown in the quoted excerpt there are McKewley's elsewhere in the same treen (ie near neighbours)
but if Mark died without issue then the next brother in order would inherit - as the parish regs haven't survived difficult to know -
 there were at least 2 Johns in sequence - they are held by Manx Museum I photo some of thos in 2nd half of 16th C  a decade ago for another purpose - not sure what were photo'd by mormons

[Frances_mnb]

btw he would have inherited even tho under age - but an overseer would be appointed - at age of 14 he would have the right to choose another overseer -His mother would continue to exercise her widowright. Book yourself a holiday on island and look at the original records in the Museum reading room!